Blue chip stocks suffered their fifth loss in a row Thursday, after upbeat economic data continued to fuel worries that the Fed will soon start to withdraw it stimulus efforts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 68 points, or 0.4% to close at 15,821.5, while the S&P 500 retreated 7.78 points, or 0.4% to end at 1,785.03.

And the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.8 points, or 0.12% to close the day at 4,033.16.

Stocks lost their footing after initial claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected and the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy expanded faster than initially thought in the third quarter.

Data reports issued so far this week have included better-than-expected readings from the labor market and manufacturers, reigniting concerns that the Federal Reserve could start reducing its $85-billion-a-month bond-purchase program as early as this month.

The Fed’s easy money policies have been credited with fueling the 2013 stock market rally. Investors worry the gains may not prove sustainable if the Fed eases back its bond buying prematurely.

With stock prices sitting not far off record highs, some investors have opted to lock in profits.

Meanwhile, investors remain focused on the Labor Department’s monthly jobs reports to be released Friday for hints regarding when the Fed may start tapering its stimulus program.

Prices on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, sending yields rising to 2.86%.

Gold prices fell, while crude oil prices climbed. Also, the Euro rose against the U.S. dollar.

In corporate news: Morgan Stanley (MS), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C) were among the worst performing financial stocks, in part because provisions in the Volcker rule that could hamper their trading businesses. Separately, Deutsche Bank reduced its outlook for shares of Morgan Stanley and Citi, saying both could take outsize hits from the expected slowdown in the Fed’s bond-buying program.

Kroger (KR) fell 3.5% to close at $40.06 slipped after the supermarket chain reported identical-store sales continued to increase but at a rate slightly below analysts’ projections.

Dow component Walt Disney (DIS) edged higher after the company announced late Wednesday a 15% increase to its annual dividend to 86 cents a share.

The Dow extended its losing streak yesterday to a fourth consecutive session. Will it end today?

U.S. stock futures mostly slid lower Thursday, giving up earlier gains as investors continued to grapple with worries surrounding Federal Reserve policy following new data reports.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 22 points, or 0.14% to 15,864, while the futures for the S&P 500 index climbed one point, or 0.06% to 1,790.75.

The Nasdaq-100 futures bucked the trend, rising four points, or 0.11% to 3,486.5. The technology-heavy index got a lift after Apple (AAPL) signed a deal to sell iPhones on China Mobile’s (CHL) network.

Upbeat economic reports reinforced fears that later this month the Federal Reserve could start to taper $85-billion-a-month bond-purchase program as early as this month. The Fed’s easy-money policies have been credited for helping fuel the market’s rally this year.

Those concerns have put the market’s focus on the Labor Department’s monthly jobs reports to be released Friday.

Today, however, the Labor Department reported that the number of new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week. Also, the U.S. government revised upward third-quarter GDP growth to 3.6%, marking the fastest increase in 18 months.

European markets made slight gains after the European Central Bank and Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged, as expected. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.19% rose 0.1%.

Front-month December gold futures lost 1.78% to $1,226 an ounce, pulling back from Wednesday’s 2.2% surge. January crude oil futures tacked on 0.19% to $97.38 a barrel. The dollar declined against the yen and the euro.

In corporate news, Aeropostale (ARO) fell 4.6% to $8.93 after the youth-apparel retailer reported a wider-than-expected fiscal third-quarter loss and projected a bigger fourth-quarter loss than is forecasted

Walt Disney (DIS) gained 1% to $70.72 after the company announced late Wednesday a 15% increase to its annual dividend to 86 cents a share.

General Growth Properties (GGP) jumped 5% to $21.19 after S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Wednesday it was adding the real estate investment trust into the benchmark S&P 500 index next week, replacing Molex (MOLX), which is being acquired by privately-held Koch Industries.

Celgene (CELG) rose 2% to $163 after UBS upgraded the biotech stock to Buy from Neutral and raised its target price to $200 from $163.

Tiffany & Co (TIF) rose 1.6% to $90 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and added it to the firm’s Conviction Buy list.

Kohl’s (KSS) rose 1.14% to $55 after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $65 target price.

Pershing Square Capital’s Bill Ackman touted a familiar stock at the Value Investing Congress in New York on Monday.

General Growth Properties (GGP), the stock he discussed, has been in Pershing Square’s portfolio for at last four years. He called it “one of the best businesses in the world, a regional mall business,” touting its stable cash flow and high barriers to entry.

But his case has to do with more than just the company’s basic attributes. Ackman has a long, complicated history with the mall owner. He recently urged GGP’s board to put the company up for sale by auction to avoid a takeover by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) that he says won’t value the company at a high enough price.

“We usually don’t push for sales of companies,” he said at the conference. “The problem is Brookfield is working very hard to get control of the company without paying a premium…If we don’t do a transaction the shareholders will forever lose the possibility to earn a premium.”

Brookfield has said it isn’t trying to take the company over.

Ackman thinks the best path for GGP is to merge with Simon Property Group (SPG), which has had success at consolidating properties in the past. “They’re a better operator, they’re a lower-cost operator.” GGP should be worth $24 per share in a deal (it now trades at about $19), he argues.

“Simon’s stock will rise on the transaction,” Ackman predicted. By the end of the year, GGP shareholders would be holding stock of the merged company worth $29 per share, about 50% upside.

GGP shares rose 1.7% during the presentation.

In response to a question about JC Penney (JCP), another Ackman holding, he said “we like JC Penney. it’s the General Growth of the retail industry. There’s enormous skepticism. The CEO is doing the right thing on a 5 or 10 year basis for the company.”

JCP has 20% less real estate than GGP and yet is trading at one-sixth the price of GGP, he noted.

In the past, “there was no reason to go to this mall unless you wanted to buy something cheap.”

“What is Ron Johnson doing? He’s building a mall within a mall…leasing up the mall with higher-quality tenants.”

The problem is that the parts of the store that aren’t part of the new model are lagging.

“The [new] shops kind of make the rest of the shop look bad.”

Ackman’s average cost for the stock was $25, he said. It’s a good investment “If you can think more than three months ahead. And the sales comps, he joked, will be a lot easier to hurdle next year.

“The bad news is we lost 20% of the customers in the first half of the year. The good news is we kept 80%.”

About Stocks To Watch

Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.